Improvement in rock-crushing mills



PETERS. FKOTO-LITHDGRAFHER, WASHINGTON. D. C,

waited fiitlitfi fittiwi can.

Letters Patent No. 94,291, dated August 31, 1869.

. IMBROVENIENT IN ROCK-CRUSHING' MILLS.

The Schedule referred to in'these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom itmay concern;

Be it known that I, J. HARVEY DAY, of the city and county. of Walla Walla, Washington Territory, have invented an Improved Rook-Crusher; and I- do hereby declare the following description and accom panying drawings are sufficient to enableany person skilled in the art or science to which it most nearly appertains to make and use my said invention or improvements, without further invention or experiment. The nature and object-of my invention are to provide'an improved apparatus for crushing and grinding quartz, or other gold or silver-bearingror'zks, so that theprecious metals may be afterwards extracted by amalgamation or other processes; and

It consists of a series of large disks, placed, one above another, each having a grinding-face on the lower side, at the periphery, and a track or containingpath, for the ore, on the upper side. These disks are connectedtogethcr in the centre by some form of universal joint, and the whole pile is surmounted by a heavy weight, which is also connected to the upper disk by a universal joint, and has a grinding-surface at'its lower outside edge. The weight; and the plates or disks are so set, that when standing vertically, there will be a space between each pair of grinding-surfaces; but when inclined to one side, the grinding or crushing-face of the weight will rest on any ore that may be in the track, on the upper face of the first disk from the top, and the grinding-face of this disk, in turn, upon the track of the next disk below, and so on to the bottom. Motion is given to the weight, so that the centre at the top will revolve about a vertical line through the centre of the base, and this causes all the crushing-surfaces to come successively into con- ,tact. The ore is fed into the upper track, either continuously or intermittently, by any suitable device,'and passes gradually, through a'series of holes made through the track, to the next lower disk. From this, the are, still further reduced, passes to the next disk through similarholes, and the remainder of the distance to the lowest disk through screens increasing in fineness as they descend,-and placed alternately at the outside and inside of the tracks.

Referring to the accompanying drawings for a better explanation of my invention-- Figure 1 is a vertical section of my apparatus. Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the disks. A is a base-plate, fastened and anchored as solidly as possible, which may be cast solid,'or it maybe made in separate pieces. The central cone B being cast, then the ring 0, which contains the grinding-track, may be bolted upon the outside, and lastly, the part which contains the receiver D and discharge-spout.

The disks above this base-plate consist of a hollow central cone,'E, and a rim, F, which may be cast solid, or made like the base-plate, in separate parts, and

bolted together. The rim F of eachhasa continuous shoe or rnshing surface, 0, formed on its lower side,

which works in the track 0 of the base-plate A, or that of the disk below.

The concavity of the cone E stands over the cone B of the bed-plate, so that they nearly touch each other. In the centre, between the two, is fixed a universal joint, which, as ,here shown, consists of two arms ab, crossing each other at right angles, and having journals turned at their ends.

The journals of the arm a turn in lugs or bearings which project downward from the inner side of the cone E, while the journals of the arm I: turn in bearings made on the upper side of the cone B, and at right angles with those on, the cone E.

The hearing or joint is'so arranged, that when-the disks stand vertically, there will be a small space hetween'the track of the-base-plate and the shoe of the lowest disk, and a gradually-increasing space between thecrushing-surfaces of the disks .to the upper one, which receives the largest fragments of rock.

Each" of the disks 'mayhave a. strengthening-band around the outside, and a thin metal rim, G, extends upward and outward, to catch the ore as it falls from the one above, and .to hold the contents until fine enough to be discharged to the next below, the cone in each forming the inside rim of thetrough or track,

besides sei'ving, byits height, to" keep dust and dirt from the journals of the joint.

Any number of disks from two to ten may be used, and the upper one is surmounted by a very heavy weight, H;

This weight, in smallfmachines, may be cast solid,

and the rim'l, which forms the crushing-shoe, may bebolted on.

' In large machines, the weight may be formed of a pile offlat disks, bolted together; or a cylinder of boileriron may compose the upper portion, this cylinder being filled with stones, earth, or scrap-iron, to give it weight.

w This weight is attached to the upper disk by a universal joint similar to those before described, and it is intended, when the machine is in motion, to allow this weight to incline as far as possible, and preserve its gravity.

An axle, J, passes through-a frame, so that it is vertically above the centre of the. base-plate; and it carries a crank, K, the pin of which is at a sufficient'distance from the central lineto give the weight the desired inclination. v I

The crank-pin is attached to the centre of the weight by 'a joint, L, which admits a motion in any direction; and, when the crank is turned, every portion of the shoeof the weight and the shoes of each 'of the disks are brought successively into contact with all of the grinding-surfaces or tracks of the plates beneath.

The feeding-device consists of-a spouqM, attached to the rim of the 'upper disk, and may feed the ore continuously; or, by two gates, shown in red, a certain quantity may be fed at stated intervals.

Any number of feeders may be employed at different points, and they may have flanges at the lower end, to distribute the ore. This ore reaches the upper track, and is there subjected to the action of the weight H, which reduces it, by a combined crushingand grinding-motion, till it is made fine enough to pass to the disk below. For this purpose, the track is perforated with a series of openings, d d, every alternate one of which is made to open outside of the shoe below, and each alternate one inside of the shoe, the ore thus reaching the second track, where it is again subjected to the crushing of the weight and of the first disk, by means of the shoec of that disk, after which it passes through a series of holes, smaller, but similar to those made in the upper track,and by this means reaches the third track. After being again crushed in this track, the orc will be sufliciently fine to pass through screens N, which are placed over slots or openings 0, made through the sides of the cone E. The ore thus reaches the fourth track, fi'om which it passes, by screens 1, in the outside rim G, andthus alternately, through the screens in the inside rim and the outside rim, the ore reaches the trackof the base-plate, from which it is finally passed to the receiver D, and may be scraped around by appropriate mechanism, if crushed dry, so as to discharge into the trough R.

The crushing may be done either wet or dry, and amalgamation may also be carried on at the same time, by placing mercury in the third track, and having holes in the rim, through which it will gradually passto the bottom, and any free mercury will fall into a tank, from which it canbe again pumped into the third track from the top.

The universal joints may be formed in various ways, by a chain passing from the bottom plate to the weight at the top, or by a ball-and-socket joint between each pair of disks, all that is necessary being to allow each of the disks and the weight a free motion around the fixed centres.

Having thus described my invention,

\Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patcut is-- a 1 A crusher for ores, consisting of weight H, having a continuous grinding-shoe at its periphery, and moving about a universal joint at the lower side, substantiallyas'herein described.

2. The disks, either consisting of the central cone E and the rim F, or made in any other shape, and all united together, as described, either for crushing or amalgainating, and having discharge-openings, substantially as herein described.

sisting' of a series of disks, oneahove another, incombination with the weight H, the whole united by'universal joints, and operating substantially as herein described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

- J. HARVEY DAY. [11. s.]

' \Vitnesses JOHN L. Boosn,

GEO. H. STRONG.

3. A crusher, or a crusher and amalgamator, coni 

